Let the summer slowdown fuel your business

80% of Americans vacation during the summer months. Is it affecting your company’s bottom line?

Did you take or are you planning to take a vacation this year?

According to this 2016 study by American Express, almost all Americans (80%) planned to travel for leisure last summer. And, according to this 2017 Boston Globe article, leave time usage for American workers is on the rise, which means more employees absent during these summer months.  We all know why Americans like to take summer vacations. As American Express Travel Executive Vice President Claire Bennett says, “More than any other season, Americans see summer as a chance to take a break from their everyday.”

How can you keep all that travelling from negatively affecting your productivity? Whether it’s your employees, supervisors, customers, or yourself, it’s important to have a plan.

Here are some tips to keep your summer thriving:

1. Plan ahead. This is a great time to reach out to your prospects and current customers. What are their summer plans? Are you scheduled to meet with them during a time they will be away? Do appointments need to be rescheduled? Is there anything you can do for them before they leave, while they’re gone and after they return? There is an opportunity here to make some touch points, and to keep yourself top-of-mind.
2. Be creative with your social posts. Make room in your social media calendar for some more adventurous posts. Try something new, a meme, a video graphic, or cartoon. Choose a topic you might not normally post about and relate it to your business. Most people have one foot in work and one foot in vacation during the summer months, so think about introducing some topics that might lean a bit more towards leisure than normal. Summer is a great time to try out new ideas.
3. Expand your thinking. The ways of communicating in today’s world are constantly changing. Take advantage of the lighter meeting schedule to get online and check out the latest trends. Are there skills to be learned, and apps to be applied that could improve your business presence? Take a fresh look at your website – is it cutting edge? What do your competitors’ sites look like? This is a great time to analyze and improve your communications.

What tips do you have that can help leverage the summer months to improve your marketing?